


Second Chance

by dietcokeenthusiast



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Pokemon Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 13:58:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8670253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dietcokeenthusiast/pseuds/dietcokeenthusiast
Summary: Moon and Lillie's date gets interrupted when a former member of Team Skull sees them as easy marks. Lillie shows that a lot's changed since she left for Kanto, and that everyone deserves a chance to do good.





	

They were late getting to the coast. Moon had made the mistake of wearing an old Team Skull tank she had bought off a couple of the hangers-on in Po Town, and Lillie was quick to remind her about everything Team Skull had done to her. Despite Lillie’s insistence it was okay, Moon still felt awful about it.

“I’m really sorry, Lillie,” she said, plopped down beside her on the beach. “I just grabbed it from the closet without thinking.”

“It’s okay, really,” Lillie said softly. “I know it was an accident, and that you wouldn’t ever do something like that to me on purpose.”

Moon brushed her fingers over Lillie’s arm, the contrast in their skin tone so delightfully appealing. “Never.”

Lillie giggled, and rested her head on Moon’s shoulder. “I’m just glad we made it in time to see the sunset.”

Moon inhaled sharply; her heart still jumped a bit whenever Lillie was affectionate towards her. The skyline was a perfect blend of orange, red, and purple, reflecting off the gentle waves of the ocean. The cool breeze kissed her face, a welcome sensation after an especially hot day. The whole scene was the second most beautiful thing she could see that evening.

Lillie broke the silence. “Oh, Moon? Have I ever shown you my badges?”

Moon shook her head.

Lillie smiled, and reached into her pack for a small rectangular case, opening up to reveal a collection of metal pins. “Instead of trials, they have gyms there, and you battle against the leaders for those badges. It was really challenging, but I got all eight!”

“That’s great, Lillie!” Moon ran her fingers through the soft, golden strands of Lillie’s hair, delighting in the glow that spread across her cheeks. “What are they like?”

“Oh! Um… they’re different. There was one, Giovanni, who was kind of scary. People kept saying he was actually a criminal! Then there was another one, Erika, who actually taught me a bit about flower arranging! I’m not nearly as good as she is, though.”

“You’ll have to show me some time,” said Moon, tucking a strand of hair behind Lillie’s ear.

“Oh… I mean, sure! I guess we can go to the meadows and collect some flowers, and Nebby’s big enough to take care of themself if they want to explore like last ti-“

Moon cut her off with a kiss on her cheek, drawing a surprised gasp from Lillie. “M-moon!”

Moon giggled. “You’re too cute! I couldn’t help it,”

Lillie somehow managed to turn even redder, and tried her best to look angry. “Y-you just like seeing me all flustered, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” Moon replied, wrapping her arms around Lillie’s waist and pulling her closer.

Lillie couldn’t keep up appearances anymore, and just sighed happily. “Well… that’s okay, then.”

“Good,” said Moon, planting a soft kiss on her lips. Lillie had only been back to Alola for just over a week, and Moon didn’t leave her side for so much as one of those days. They had a lot of lost time that they needed to make up for, and Moon swore she was never going to miss an opportunity to show Lillie how she felt again.

The two turned their attention back to the sunset, Lillie resting against Moon and Moon’s arm draped across Lillie’s shoulders. For a while, neither said anything to the other. Neither had to. The world outside of the two of them didn’t matter.

At least, for a little while. They were jerked out of their reverie by a gruff, unfamiliar voice. “Well ain’t this precious?”

The two girls turned around to see a young man clad in dirty, faded black clothing. The tips of his shaggy hair were died blue, and around his neck was the familiar medallion of Team Skull. Moon felt Lillie squeeze her tighter and shift to hide behind her once she noticed it.

It seemed that Lillie wasn’t the only one who came to a realization, the man’s eyes widening as he sized up the pair. “Yo, I know you. You’re the first Alolan champion! The chick who broke up my family!” He spat, holding up the medallion.

“Family?” Moon asked, shifting to block off Lillie as best as I could.

“You heard me! I just _know_ you got a lot to pay me back with.”

Moon narrowed her eyes. She had fought with Team Skull enough that she wasn’t going to be so easily intimidated. “Team Skull is gone, you can’t change that. Just move on.”

“Yo, better idea! How about you just give up your money and your pokemon right now, and we do this the easy way? I’ve got no problems sending my crew after you if you try anything”

“P-please! Just leave us alone!” Lillie cried, visibly shaking.

“Then hand over your stuff! Aren’t you listening?!”

“Why are you even doing this?” Moon questioned. “Team Skull is gone, and with all the harm you did, that’s a good thing.”

“Cool story, sis, but before Team Skull I had nothing, man! My folks didn’t want me at home any more, no job wanted me, I wasn’t good enough for the island challenge, the only person who ever cared about me or the rest of us was Guzma! Then you and your little friends had to go and ruin it! That’s messed up, man.”

“You didn’t have to join with Guzma, though,” said Moon. “You always had a choice to do something different. Just like now.”

“You really don’t have any idea what it’s like, do you? You’re the first Alolan champion! When’s the last time you couldn’t find a place to sleep?” The grunt spat on the ground. “Don’t even get me started on that pal of yours. We all saw what kind of mansion Aether foundation money lets you grow up in.”

Moon stepped forward. “You don’t know what she’s been through, either!”

“You mean when her mom went nuts? Boo hoo!” The grunt snorted derisively. Moon saw Lillie wince at the mention of her mother. “Maybe you should be more worried about if that kind of crazy is contagious, man.”

Anger flashed in Moon’s eyes, and she stepped protectively in front of Lillie. Her hand reached in her bag for Deciudeye’s pokeball. “That’s enough! You leave her alone. If you want a battle, then I-“

“W-wait.” Moon turned around at the touch of Lillie’s hand on her shoulder. “I-I want to do this.”

Moon looked at Lillie in shock. “Are you sure? I know it can’t be easy facing them after all they did to you.”

Lillie nodded. “That was different. _I’m_ different.  I’m still scared a-after what they did to Nebbie, and I, b-but you’ve always been there to save m-me, Moon. I… I want to know that I can p-protect myself, and you.”

At that, Moon’s expression changed to one of admiration. When it really came down to it, there really was no one stronger than her Lillie. She leaned in, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Okay. I’ll be cheering you on. Just like you always did for me!”

Lillie smiled and blushed for a moment, before fixing a determined expression on her face. “If you’re with me, then I know I can win.”

“Are you kidding me?!” The grunt shouted. “Save the sappy stuff for later so I can get to wasting the both of you!”

Lillie stood up a little bit straighter, and looked angrily at the former gang member. “I’m sorry for what you had to go through, b-but you don’t get to bully Moon and I like that!”

“Yeah? Well my Crobat says otherwise! Let’s pound them!” Hurling a pokeball at the ground, the grunt sent out his Crobat. One look at its eyes made it clear that it was ready for a fight.

Lillie reached into her own bag and threw out a pokeball, sending out a Raichu. Or… at least what Moon assumed was a Raichu. She had a few foggy memories of the Kanto Raichus she saw in videos before she moved to Alola, and this one seemed to look the same.

The former grunt pointed right at Raichu. “Bite this punk, Crobat!”

With a snarl, the Crobat flew at Raichu at full speed, biting down its side and knocking it to the ground. Moon saw Lily tense up, looking as though the attack had hurt her as much as it had her pokemon. In a few moments, though, it was back on its feet, nodding back reassuringly to Lillie.

_Her pokemon really do love her… that’s my Lillie!_

The grunt looked on in disbelief. “What?! How’s that thing still standing? Get it again!”

The Crobat pulled a U-turn in mid-air, swinging around to bite the Raichu again, but by now Lillie had steadied herself. “Raichu, Thunderbolt!”

The air began to crackle around the Raichu as the Crobat got closer and closer. It was all a matter of if it could get its attack off in time.

“Come on Raichu, you can do it!” Moon called out from behind Lillie.

“Rai…. CHUUUUUU!!!!” A massive lightning bolt struck the Crobat just before it could get its jaws around Raichu again, sending it crashing to the ground and tumbling back to the grunt, unconscious.

“That’s it!” He shouted, returning Crobat to the Pokeball.  “Palossand, finish the job!” As the pokeball hit the ground, the sand itself seemed to glow and form into the creature.

Looking absolutely terrified at just the sight of it, Raichu sent a thunderbolt  flying towards Palossand. The electricity dissipated into the sand as it stood there, completely unfazed. Roaring, it spat a shadow ball at Raichu, knocking it down once again. This time, it struggled to get back up.

“Raiiii….”

“RAICHU!” Lillie shrieked, kneeling down beside it. “Y-you did so good! I promise it’ll all be okay. I’ll take you to the pokemon centre, and you’ll feel better…”

“R-raiiii…”

Moon rushed over to Lillie, gently dabbing at her tears with her shirt. _Even when she battles, she still gets so worried for her pokemon…_ “You did great, Raichu,” said Moon, looking down at the injured pokemon. She then turned her attention to Lillie. “So did you. I can look after Raichu while you finish things.”

Sniffling, Lillie nodded, and handed Moon her pokeball. “I… I can do this.”

“You can, Lillie,” Moon cooed, brushing her hand against her cheek. “*Show him some Z-power!”

Lillie nodded, and slowly got back up to her feet as Moon returned Raichu to the Pokeball. Turning to face the grunt and his Palossand, she pulled another pokeball out of her bag, throwing it against the ground. “Venusaur, go!”

What emerged was massive pokemon with a giant flower growing out of its back. It was yet another pokemon Moon hadn’t seen in person before, and she was a bit awed at the sight.

“About time!” The grunt taunted. “I told you to save the sappy stuff for later! Palossand, hit them with earth power!”

Lillie looked back to the sunset, seeming to pause to think for a moment, before turning back to Venusaur. “I k-know there’s not much sun left, but this is our best chance. Venusaur, take in the sun’s energy!”

“Saur!” The flower on its back seemed to shift towards the fading light, and began to glow faintly. The pokemon closed its eyes in concentration, even as the earth split and erupted with energy below its feet. All the while, the glow on the flower grew brighter and brighter.

“One more shadow ball, Palossand!” The grunt ordered. The Palossand grumbled in acknowledgment, and prepared to spit out another.

“Go Lillie!” Moon cheered. “Stop him before he has a chance!”

Lillie nodded at her, and then turned to Venusaur. “Use Solarbeam!” At her command. The flower on Venusaur’s back seemed to glow white, before firing a massive beam that completely engulfed the Palossand. When the attack had ended, the sand that made up the pokemon’s body seemed to have collapsed on itself. It had fainted.

Lillie jumped in the air and cheered. “Good work, Venusaur! I’m so proud of y-hey!”

She was cut off by Moon rushing in to hug her from behind. “You did it, Lillie! You’ve really become such an amazing trainer!”

“Oh!” Lillie turned around, blushing brightly. “Thank you!”

The grunt clutched at his head. “D-dammit! I can’t even do this right!”

Moon blinked, letting go of Lillie. “Wait, were those your only pokemon?”

“Yes!” The grunt cried, hurling his hat on the ground in disgust. “I told you, I don’t have anything left!”

Moon actually felt somewhat sorry for him, despite what had happened. She’d seen how things were in Po Town first hand, and for someone to look back at that fondly, they must have been in dire straits.

Lillie slowly approached the man. “Excuse me, mister… um, Team Skull Grunt?”

“Lucas… my name’s Lucas.”

“Mister Lucas,” Lillie continued. “What you’ve done, what you’re doing… it’s wrong. No matter what the reason, you can’t just steal from other people or hurt other living things!”

“I know,” he grumbled.

“I think you deserve a chance to do something different, though! I’m a lab assistant to Professor Kukui, and I know he’s always looking for people to help out in the lab. I could try talking to him about letting you work as an assistant.”

“Yeah right, like anyone would want me for a gig like that!”

“I didn’t know anything about being a lab assistant when I started, but he and his wife still looked after me and let me help. I’m sure they’ll do the same for you! But,” Lillie continued firmly, “you have to stop doing things like this. You have to want to be better!”

Lucas looked up at her. “Man, why are you even trying to help me?”

“Because sometimes we just need someone to look out for us,” said Lillie, looking back towards Moon. “Then we can make a difference.”

A long pause hung in the air, Lucas’ gaze fixed solely on the ground. Finally, he spoke. “Yo, if I want this gig, what do I got to do.”

Lillie smiled. “I have to ask the professor, but if you’re serious, then meet me at the poke-centre on Route 1 tomorrow morning.”

Lucas nodded slowly. ”Okay, I’ll be there. Hey… sorry about everything.”

“Apology accepted.”

With that, Lucas waved awkwardly, and was on his way, leaving Lillie and Moon alone once again. “Lillie, you were amazing!” Moon blurted out, breaking the silence. “Your pokemon were really cool, and so were you. Seeing how much you loved them, and even how you gave that guy a second chance-“

“Well, it’ll actually be the professor doing it. I just came up with the idea.”

Moon placed her hands on Lillie’s shoulders. “Lillie, that idea might have been just what that Lucas guy needs. That was so amazing of you to do that,” she cooed, leaning in for a kiss. Lillie was more than happy to comply, her lips moving in time with Moon’s.

“Oh wow…” Lillie murmured, trying to catch her breath. “So… I should probably head back to the lab, and talk to Kukui about Lucas. Maybe you could come over with me?”

Moon giggled, and took Lillie’s hand in hers. “I’d love to. Let’s go!”


End file.
